Fixture

Penallta reached the quarter-finals of the Swalec Plate with a convincing win over Heol-y-Cyw.

Penallta 46 - 5 Heol y Cyw

Penallta scored four tries in a devastating second-half spell which killed off the tie and gave a lop-sided look to the scoreboard.

Up to the fifty minute mark Cyw were their usual patient, competitive selves, proving very strong in the tackle area and difficult to get the ball from. At one stage Cyw were attacking Penallta’s line with the score just 18-5. It felt nervy and with the history of close score-lines between the two sides, there was plenty of nail-biting among the home fans.

Then three tries in ten minutes finished the game as a contest. They came out of the blue, the first two scored through open-side Rhys Fitzgerald, Penallta’s best player on the day. Renowned more for his dogged tackling and superb work in the ruck area, Fitzgerald demonstrated on Saturday that he can be a match-winner too. His tries came from two barnstorming runs, the first full of Samoan side-steps directly through Cyw’s tacklers and the second one of sheer pace, as he rounded Cyw’s outside-half to run in untouched. It summed up a performance of excellence from the flanker, whose consistently outstanding efforts this season have been arguably the most satisfying highlight of the campaign.

Penallta made hard work of the first half. The forwards were very good throughout, dominating the scrums and the lineouts, but there were some unsure touches and tactical errors among the backs. Penallta tried to run the ball from deep when it was clear that field position would be the better option. Cyw’s defence and discipline in chasing down lost causes is not to be taken lightly, and they rattled Penallta into some untidy errors. Frustration began to seep in.

Seconds before half time the lead for Penallta was a meagre 11-5. Hooker Gregg Haines had scored an unconverted try for Penallta when a five-metre lineout was followed by his rampaging bash through two defenders, and it was built on with two penalties through Joe Scrivens. But Heol-y-Cyw hit back with an excellent try of their own through centre Gareth Howells. The score-line at that stage didn’t reflect the forward dominance of Penallta and they only had themselves to blame. Cyw also had reason to query some of the decisions which went against them. They were penalised with a couple of dubious calls for sealing off the ball in the contact area and blind-side Josh O’Driscoll, who looked Cyw’s best player, was sin-binned on the half hour mark for what looked a debateable penalty.

O’Driscoll was the only one of the four brothers playing. Two of his brothers are now at Bridgend Ravens and the other is injured. The loss of the others was evident as Cyw fell away in the second half, mainly through poor tackling, something which has never been evident in previous games. Players like Adam and Zak O’Driscoll are very difficult to replace. Perhaps the intensity of the Penallta forward effort and the quality of the team defence took its toll too, as Cyw failed to gain the upper hand in the set-piece or the tackle-area as the game wore on.

The first nail in the Cyw coffin arrived on the stroke of half time, quashing the home anxiety. After a few mistakes and missed chances Penallta finally gained some breathing space with a well-worked try. Gareth Edwards picked the ball up neatly off his toes and his pass to Ryan Davies sent the full back into the corner. The try would’ve been a difficult one for a TMO to decide on, as Davies narrowly touched down before crashing into the corner flag. Nevertheless, it was given, and Joe Scrivens, despite three earlier misses, did what he usual does and smoked the conversion over from as wide out as you can get on the 4G. His kicking appears to improve the closer he gets to his beloved groupies in the stands.

Cyw started the second half well and anxiety emerged again as the East Central side got into the groove of their pick-and-drive game. Then in a flash it all fell apart for them. Penallta’s backs suddenly switched it on, complementing the forward effort. Half Backs Aeron Bidgood and Joseph Scrivens started to find holes in the Cyw defence, jinking and weaving to get the home side on the front foot. And then amidst the step-up in tempo, Fitzgerald’s two blitzing tries put the home side out of sight. Moments later with Cyw barely believing the turnaround, a piece of lovely balance and skill from centre Andrew Jenkins led to an inside pop to substitute full back Matthew Williams, who sprinted in under the posts. Scrivens, now enjoying himself after a couple of sublime breaks, slotted all three conversions to finish things off.

The lead had immediately extended to 39-5 and Penallta took the opportunity to clear their bench.  Open side Ross Morgan came on and grabbed a try in the final play after Rhys Stephens had gone close, crashing over from five yards out. Morgan’s destructive tackling was much in evidence, a sign he is getting the spring back in his step after a long rehabilitation. It was also nice to see young prop Ross Thomas come on for veteran Martyn Dunn on the loose head. Thomas looked as though he had grown an inch upwards and outwards on being selected, barely fitting into the subs jersey. He did excellently when he came on, becoming the 12^th player from last season’s youth age-group to feature in the 1^st team this season. It was an especially proud moment for his parents Julie and Lyndon, who have certainly paid their way in terms of the bar-bill to see their boy break into the first team. No more committed and loyal supporters will you find than that pair.

All eyes will now be on Tuesday’s draw to see who Penallta face in the quarter finals. There are some very good teams left in the mix and some potentially hazardous away journeys. Whoever Penallta face, when their backs get the tactics right and break loose like they did in the second half, they will take some stopping in attack. And with a forward pack so consistently good, it bodes well for success in the inevitably tight and difficult games ahead.